Ski boot with mechanism for tightening the closure flaps



H. MARTIN Dec. 8, 197 0 SKI BOOT WI TH MECHANISM FOR TIGHTENING THECLOSURE FLAPS Filed April 19, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I N VENTOR ATTORNEYSDec. 8, 1970 H. MARTIN 35 5 045 SKI BOOT WITH MECHANISM FOR TIGHTENINGTHE CLOSURE FLAPS Filed April .19, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I IN VENT QR///4 .r Mir/M ATTORNEYS Dec. 8, 1970 3,545,106

SKI BOOT WITH MECHANISM FOR TIGHTENING THE CLOSURE FLAPS H. MARTIN 4 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 19, 1968 FIG.

INVENTOR. H A N S M AR T I N (0 MWL i) k 'imdn United States PatentOflice Patented Dec. 8, 1970 U.S. Cl. 3650 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A mechanism for drawing together the closure flaps of a boot,especially a ski boot which comprises at least one traction member atthe region of the instep of the boot. This traction member is guidedover both of the closure flaps. A single pivotal tensioning lever meanscooperates with each such traction member in order to tighten or loosen,as desired, the closure flaps over their entire length.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvedski boot equipped with a mechanism for tightening its closure flaps.

It is known to the art to draw or tie together the closure flaps of aboot upper by means of laces. Persons wearing ski boots, however, findit cumbersome and time-consuming to tie the laces before commencingskiing and to loosen them thereafter, loosening being necessary in ordernot to impede the blood circulation through the feet. In most instances,a large portion of the laces has to be untied. On the other hand, skiboots equipped with buckles are also known to the art, whereintightening of the boot is accomplished by four to six buckles, each ofwhich has to be manually operated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, a primary object of the presentinvention relates to a ski bo t or the like equipped with an improvedmechanism for tightening the closure flaps thereof in a relativelysimple and quick manner.

Another very significant object of the present invention relates to animproved mechanism for tightening the closure flaps of a boot, whereintightening or opening of the boot can be carried out with a singlesimple manipulation.

Still a further object of this invention deals wih a tighteningmechanism for the closure flaps of boots which is relatively simple inconstruction, economical to manufacture, easy to operate, highlyreliable as well as not readily susceptible to malfunctioning.

Now in order to implement these and still further objects of theinvention which will become more readily apparent as the descriptionproceeds, the inventive tightening mechanism incorporates at least onetraction mem her in the region of the instep. This traction memberextends over both closure flaps. Each such traction member interacts atthe upper region of the upper with a single tensioning lever devicewhich by means of a pivotal movement permits tightening or loosening theclosure flaps along their entire length. As a result, the boot may betightened or loosened in a faster and simpler manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be betterunderstood, and objects other than those set forth above will becomeapparent when consideration is given to the following detaileddescription thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexeddrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of a ski boot equipped with the inventivetightening mechanism;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tensioning lever mechanism;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the lines III-III of FIG.1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the details of the tensioning levermembers;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view of a notched bracket or clamp of thetightening mechanism of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a rear elevational view of a ski boot equipped with a slidefastener; and

FIG. 7 is a cutaway rear elevational view of a ski boot showing showingtwo slide fasteners.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Describing now the drawings,the ski boot pursuant to FIG. 1 possesses a shoe sole 1, a heel 2 and ashoe upper 3. In the heel area, the boot is equipped with a downwardlyextending conventional closure 4 and could be a zipper or any other formof slide fastener means. The latter permits enlarging the foots entranceopening so that the boot can be put on or removed comfortably when theclosure 4 is open. The presence of this closure 4 ensures for arelatively short operational path with respect to the drawing togetheror tightening of the closure flaps 5 and 6. For example, in order toensure that the foot, during the downhill run is supported safely andsecurely, it is necessary to draw together both closure flaps 5 and 6along the instep throughout their entire length in such manner as toprovide a tight fit. This is achieved by means of a singlelever-tensioning closure mechanism 7 which will be described in greaterdetail farther below. Hence, the zipper 4 serves to enlarge only theentrance area of the boot when it is put on or taken off, whereas theclamping closure mechanism 7 itself serves solely to tighten or loosenthe upper 3 of the boot. A slide fastener closure 4 can be seen moreclearly centered in the heel area in FIG 6.

Closure flap 5 is equipped in the vicinity of the tip of the boot with amounting plate or strap 10 which is attached to the boot by means ofrivets 11. A traction member, such as a Bowden-cable which includes acable core 12 is anchored to this mounting plate 10. The other closureflap 6 is equipped with a similar mounting plate or strap 13 at which ismounted a cable covering 14 of the traction member. A further mountingplate or strap 15 is attached to the same closure flap 6 at the vicinityof the region where the instep is followed by the leg portion which isjust below the bridging strap 16 located at the region of the knee orbreak point of the upper. This bridging strap 16 is formed of a somewhatsofter material in order to allow movement between the leg portion 17 ofthe upper 3 and the instep portion 18. On the first mentioned closureflap 5, at a point lying approximately across from the mounting plate15, there is provided an additional mounting plate on strap 19 whichserves to fix the cable covering 20. The cable covering 14 is flexedthrough an angle of about between the mounting plates 13 and 15 and,thus, the cable core 12 inside of the cable covering is likewise bentthrough said angle. The cable covering 20 is guided in the area of theleg portion 17 in the shape of an opposite bend so that both of thecable covering portions 14 and 20 define a configuration of a wave or anS-curve.

A bracket or clamp 22 is mounted by means of rivets 33 in the area ofthe leg portion of the closure flap 5. This bracket 2 is substantiallyU-shaped and carries a pull strap 24 at its middle web, portion 23.

Pull strap 24 has threaded therein a screw 25 which is provided with athroughbore permitting the passage of the cable core 12 and hasthickened portion or bulge 26 at its front end, as best seen in FIG. 4.Cable core 12 is conducted through an eye 28, said eye being acontinuation of and protruding from a base plate 30 -.which is mountedon closure fiap 6. When the tightening mechanism is closed the eye oreyelet 28 serves as a stop for the neighboring front end 32 of cablecovering 20 which can thus be drawn or pulled in the direction againstthe other closure flap only up to this eye 28.

By virtue of the relatively large dimension of the base plate 30, thepressure is Well distributed and there is avoided any tilting of thebase plate 30. An additional clamp or bracket 36 engages with two websor arms 34 extending from base plate 30. This bracket or clamp 36 islikewise essentially U-shaped. A cover plate 40 providing an extensionmember is hingedly mounted at the middle region of the bracket 36 insuch fashion that the pivotal or swivel action is limited by stops.Instead of a one-piece clamp or bracket 36 such could be constructed ofseveral parts which, for example, could be riveted or welded together.

This bracket 36 is equipped on one side with three notches 42, 43, 44with which the bracket 22 can be selectively engaged. If this bracket 22is hung into the first notch 42 which is closer to its axis of rotationand if this bracket together with cover plate 40, is swung in thedirection of arrow A (FIG. 2), the cable core 12 may be somewhattightened. Thereafter, the bracket 36 comes to rest in a terminalposition behind its deadcenter position and neighboring the leg portionand thereafter remains fixed in that position. In order to achieve arelatively long lever arm for this tightening or tensioning operation,the cover plate 40 can be tilted outward in the direction of the arrow Bas shown in FIG. 2, so that there is available for the manual force arelatively long lever arm. A stop which is not visible in the drawing islocated between cover plate 40 and bracket 36 in order to limit thepivotal movement of the cover plate 40 around the sleeve or eye 38. Uponcompletion of the tightening operation, the cover plate 40 can be rockedor tilted back again and in that closed position will follow the outlineof the boot, thereby covering both brackets 22 and 36. While in thisposition, it covers the boot tightening mechanism which remainsinvisible from the outside, thus giving the boot an appealingappearance.

If it is desired that both closure flaps 5 and 6 should be drawn moretightly against each other, then the bracket 22 will be engaged with thesecond or third notch 43, 44 or, if present, additional notches. Thiswill enable the cable core 12 to be drawn further in the direction ofthe arrow C (FIG. 4) as soon as the bracket 36 is pushed in thedirection of arrow A.

In order to render possible adjustment of the tension exerted upon theleg area 17 and the instep area 18 of the boot independently of oneanother, so that such tension can be regulated to the individual shapeof the foot, the bracket 22 can be adjusted by means of screws 47independently of the particular tensional force exerted by the cablecore 12. On the other hand, it is also possible to adjust the effectivelength of cable core 12 by means of the screw 25.

In order to ensure that during the tensioning or tightening operationthe eye or eyelet 28 properly slides in relation to the closure flap 5,there is mounted on the underside of the closure flap 5 a sheet metalplate 46 upon which such eyelet or eye 28 bears and upon which it canslide better than on leather. The force exerted by the cable covering onthe eyelet 28 counteracts the force transferred to the base plate 30 bythe bracket 36 when the mechanism is in its tensioned state.

Instead of providing the boot in its heel region with a single closure4, as shown in FIG. 6, it would also be feasible to provide two parallelsimilar closures, as shown by reference numerals 70 in FIG. 7, and whichclosures 70 lie next to each other, so that a heel tongue therebetweencould be swung out for the purpose of 4 inserting the-foot. As iscommon, the interior of the boot contains a tongue 51 below the closuremechanism.

The leather portions 48 and 50', which for clarity in illustration aredepicted in FIG. 1 in bent out or flexed condition, can be preferablycovered with a non-illustrated elongate ornamental and cover strip, saidornamental and cover strip being detachably mounted on one closure flap.For example, this cover strip may consist of wing-profiled aluminumsheet. It is also feasible to employ a double cable with two parallelextending cores instead of a single Bowden-cable, wherein both corescould be used to achieve variable tensional conditions in that one orthe other core may selectively be placed into cooperative relationshipwith the tightening mechanism.

Thus, while there has been shown and described present preferredembodiments of the invention, it is to be distinctly understood that theinvention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodiedand practiced within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A ski boot having an upper and a pair of closure flaps; a mechanismfor drawing together said closure flaps which comprises at least onetraction member and tensioning means, said tensioning means including afirst guide means extending logitudinally a substantial distance alongone of said flaps from the toe area to the midportion of the closure andsecured thereto, a second elongated guide means extending longitudinallya substantial distance along the other of said flaps from the midportionthereof to the upper region of said upper, said second guide means beingsecured to said midportion of said other flap, said traction memberextending from the area of the instep and through said guide means; saidtensioning means further including a single pivotally mounted tensioninglever means on the side of said first guide means cooperating with eachtraction member at the upper region of said upper in order to tighten orloosen said closure flaps over their entire length.

2. In a ski boot according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of thelength of said traction member is constructed in the form of a Bowdencable possessing a cable covering and a cable core, said cable corebeing conducted at least across both of said closure flaps and whereinone end of said cable core is secured to one of said closure flaps inthe area of the tip of the ski boot and the other end of said cable coreis attached to said tensioning lever means.

3. In a ski boot according to claim 2, wherein said Bowden cable isguided in the form of a bend at least between said tensioning levermeans and the area below the break point of said upper, said cablecovering being supported by one closure flap and said tensioning levermeans being supported by the other closure flap.

4. In a ski boot according to claim 2, wherein said cable coveringcomprises at least two portions flexed through approximately one suchportion being attached to one closure flap and the other portion beingattached to the other closure flap.

5. A ski boot having an upper and a pair of closure flaps; a mechanismfor drawing together said closure flaps which comprises at least onetraction member that includes a first guide means extendinglongitudinally a substantial distance along one of said flaps to amidportion thereof, a second elongated guide means extendinglongitudinally a substantial distance along the other of said flaps froma midportion thereof to the upper region of said upper and flexiblemeans extending from the area of the instep and through said guidemeans; and a single pivotally mounted tensioning lever means cooperatingwith each traction member at the upper region of said upper in order totighten or loosen said closure flaps over their entire length, saidtensioning lever means being equipped with a first bracket attached toone closure flap, and a second bracket attached to the other closureflap, said first bracket cooperating at a point spaced from its axis ofrotation with said second bracket, said traction member being attachedto said second bracket.

6. In a ski boot according to claim 5, further including an extendibleextension member provided at said first bracket.

7. In a ski boot according to claim 6, wherein said extension member isconstructed in the form of a cover plate which can be snapped out, saidcover plate when in the collapsed position conforming approximately tothe contour of the upper of the ski boot and covering both of saidbrackets.

8. In a ski boot according to claim 5, wherein said first bracket isequipped with at least two notches with which may be selectively engagedthe middle part of said second bracket for tightening said tractionmember.

9. In a ski boot according to claim 5, further including a base plate atwhich said first bracket is hingedly supported, said traction memberincluding a cable core and a cable covering, a guide eye for said cablecore protruding from said base plate, said guide eye serving as a stopfor the neighboring end of said cable covering during tightening of saidclosure flaps.

10. In a ski boot according to claim 5, wherein said traction memberincludes at least a cable core, means enabling the effective length ofsaid cable core, and the effective length of said second bracket to belengthwise adjustable independently of each other.

11. In a ski boot according to claim 1, wherein at least one closuremember which extends from the top to the bottom of the boot is providedfor the heel of said boot, said closure member enlarging the entranceopening for the foot when in open position.

12. In a ski boot pursuant to claim 11, wherein a pair of closuremembers in the form of two parallel slide fasteners spaced from eachother are provided in the area of the heel of the boot, said slidefasteners serving to enable pulling out of a tongue when stepping intothe boot.

13. In a ski boot having an upper and a pair of clossure flaps, amechanism for drawing together said closure flaps which comprises atleast one traction member in the area of the instep, said tractionmember being guided over both of said closure flaps, a single pivotablymounted tensioning lever means cooperating with each traction member atthe upper region of said upper in order to tighten or loosen saidclosure flaps over their entire length; said tensioning lever beingequipped with a first bracket attached to one closure flap; a secondbracket attached to said other closure flap; said first bracketcooperating at a point spaced from its axis of rotation with said secondbracket; said traction member being attached to said second bracket; abase plate at which said first bracket is hingedly supported; saidtraction member including a cable core and cable covering; a guide eyefor said cable core protruding from said base plate, said guide eyeserving as a stop for the neighboring end of said cable covering duringtightening of said closure flaps.

14. In a ski boot having an upper and a pair of closure flaps, amechanism for drawing together said closure flaps which comprises atleast one traction member in the area of the instep, said tractionmember being guided over both of said closure flaps, a single pivotablymounted tensioning lever means cooperating with each traction member atthe upper region of said upper in order to tighten or loosen saidclosure flaps over their entire length; said tensioning lever beingequipped with a first bracket attached to one closure flap; a secondbracket attached to said other closure flap; said first bracketcooperating at a point spaced from its axis of rotation with said secondbracket; said traction member being attached to said second bracket;said traction member including at least a cable core; means enabling theeifective length of said cable core and the effective length of saidsecond bracket to be lengthwise adjustable independently of each other.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,159,816 5/1939 Murphy 36-502,420,239 5/1947 Hack 36-50X 3,363,288 1/1968 Lange et al. 36-50X3,408,752 11/1968 Lollman 36-50X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,034,116 4/1953 France36-112 1,390,882 1/1965 France 36-112 424,692 2/1935 Great Britain 36-50531,776 1/ 1941 Great Britain 36-50 ALFRED R. GUEST, Primary ExaminerUS. Cl. X.R. 36-25

